Maybe you saw the pictures…gold-colored sludge oozing its way down the Animas River in Colorado caused by a breach in a dam at an abandoned gold mine. Workers were doing maintenance on the mine on August 5, 2015 and accidentally destroyed a dam holding back a retention pond that contained waste water from the mine. Reports say the breach dumped three million gallons of polluted water into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River.
The images of mustard-colored waterways are riveting and heartbreaking. Rivers are not supposed to be that color. Maybe we can use these provocative images as an opportunity to revisit the Golden Rule, provoking us to live in a way that Jesus said is a boiled-down way to live.
Jesus’ teaching on the Golden Rule appears in two gospels, both Matthew’s and Luke’s account of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus, of course, didn’t refer to His teaching as the Golden Rule. This moniker was applied in more recent history (17th century recent) in response to other disciplines having their own “golden rules,” such as mathematics’ Golden Rule of Three. The teaching of “do unto others” became so widespread that all other golden rules seemed to pale, leaving us with The Golden Rule. Eventually many Bible publishers employed the title “The Golden Rule” as the paragraph heading of Jesus’ teaching. Here is Matthew’s account:
Matthew 7:12 (NIV)
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
So what’s so golden about the Golden Rule? For starters, it pretty much reflects God’s entire nature and character. Jesus even said in Matthew 7:12 that this “rule” sums up the Law and the Prophets. Plus, Jesus’ incarnation was the ultimate act of divine empathy. But it goes farther back than Jesus’ physical presence on this earth. We see the seeds of Golden Rule empathy in God’s early dealings with Israel. In Leviticus 19, when God was literally laying down the Law with Israel, teaching them how to reflect His traits to their surrounding nations, we see this:
Leviticus 19:33-34 (NIV)
33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
And after Jesus’ physical presence on this earth, we see Golden Rule empathy getting some specific application through the Apostle Paul:
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5
When we act on the Golden Rule we are reflecting the character and nature of God. It seems we should take it more seriously, shaping our days into the mold of that teaching. Or, to borrow from the gold mine accident, we should be oozing golden color as we move along the hallways, roadways and walkways of our day.
Think about your typical Monday-Friday day. Who are the first five people on whom you have opportunity to practice the Golden Rule? Get specific, write down names or titles. Here are some suggestions.
Adults
spouse, children, roommate, coffee barista, gas/food mart clerk, restaurant/fast-food server, co-workers
boss/employer
Students
parents, siblings, bus driver, classmates, teachers, friends, new student
The teaching in 2 Corinthians offers a specific layer to golden-rule living, inviting us to minister to others out of our own experiences. The school year and the school setting give ample opportunity. Below are a few school-year scenarios that would be considered school-year difficulties. In all likelihood, many of the students you work with have experienced these scenarios and have lived to tell about it. Or, to use 2 Corinthians terminology, have lived to comfort others through it. Challenge your students to search their memory banks for experiences that they can use to help others. As an example, if anyone has ever moved into a new school district, he or she knows what it’s like to make that adjustment. Consequently, they know better than others how to treat the new student sitting solo at a lunch table.
School-year scenarios
New student (this is about as close to Leviticus 19:33-34 as you can get!)
Cut from a sports team
Not picked for a part in a play
Struggling with grades
Dealing with an antagonistic teacher
Failed a driving test
Maybe your group can launch a movement in their schools. Challenge them to fill their school with golden-rule living so that if someone were to look at their school building from above they (or He, as the case may be) would see nothing but a golden ooze surging through the hallways. As you make the challenge, project a picture of the golden-colored waterways from the Gold King Mine spill. It’s a picture they’ll never forget. And if it sparks a golden-rule movement, their schools will never be the same.